Day 1: Arrival
Upon arrival your driver meets you and takes to your centrally located hotel for check-in. The rest of the day is at your leisure.

Optional pre-tour extension available: begin your journey in Beijing and spend 4 days exploring this Chinese gem or to Vladivostok to visit one of the most significant Russian ports located on the western shores of the Sea of Japan. Contact your travel specialist for details.

Day 2: Visiting the Gandan Monastery & Trip to Gorkhi-Terelji National Park
Following breakfast you check out from your hotel, meet your guide and explore the legendary Mongolian Buddhist Gandan Monastery in Ulan Bator. You then depart from the capital and in about 1.5 hours arrive at the camp.

Day 2: Gorkhi-Terelji National Park Tour & Meeting a Nomadic Family
Upon arrival, you enjoy traditional lunch.

Later you take the tour of the picturesque Gorkhi-Terelji National Park and visit its most popular attractions, including the famous Turtle Rock and the Aryabal Temple located on a steep hill. At the entrance to the temple’s grounds there is a long walking path leading to the set of 108 steep stairs that symbolize the elephant’s elongated trunk. You can rise up to the temple and enjoy the magnificent view of surrounding valleys.

In the afternoon you visit a nomadic family to learn more about their culture, authentic lifestyle and traditions. In the evening you enjoy a 1-hour pony riding and have dinner at the camp. You spend this night in a traditional Mongolian yurt.

Additional meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Tour on the Way to Ulan Bator
Following breakfast at the ger camp, you meet your guide and depart from ger camp.

Day 3: Folk Show
After the tour you are transferred to your hotel in Ulan Bator for check-in. In the evening you attend an amazing Mongolian folk show at the State National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble of Mongolia (transfers are included). After the show you are invited to the restaurant to have dinner with your fellow travelers.

Additional meals: Dinner

Day 4: Ulan Bator Sightseeing Tour
After breakfast you check out from the hotel and go on an exciting walking city tour around the most interesting attractions of Ulan Bator. 

During the tour you visit the National Museum of Mongolia, one of the leading museums in the whole country and the one which is responsible for preserving Mongolian cultural heritage. You also stroll along the main streets of the city, see the Parlament house and walk through the central Sukhbaatar Square formerly known as Genghis Khan Square.

After the tour you return to the hotel for your baggage, and your driver transfers you to the train station. Your journey will begin in a first-class sleeper in a regular train car taking you to Ulan Ude where you will change to the first-class sleeper in a private train car for the second part of your trip. 

The private train car is detached during stops with stays overnight in hotels. The private car is locked, thus you will be able to keep your large luggage locked on the train and go to the hotel with only small overnight bags

Day 5: Transfer to Lake Baikal
In the afternoon your train arrives in Irkutsk. Upon arrival, you are transferred right to the Lake Baikal shore and check in to your hotel.

Day 5: Transfer to Baikal & Lake Baikal Cruise
After lunch at a local restaurant we invite you for an exclusive experience - a private 3-hour cruise on Lake Baikal. Together with the guide you board a ship that takes you to one of the first Baikal railroad stations. After you get ashore, you walk to the tunnels of the old railroad and take magnificent pictures. On the way back you relax on the open-air deck with a cup of hot Siberian tea and local candies, listening to the stories about the life of locals.

After the cruise you return to your hotel and have the rest of the evening free.

Today you have a chance to attend a traditional Russian banya or sauna (at your choice) at the hotel.

Additional meals: lunch

Day 6: Listvyanka Village Tour & Trip to Taltsy Village
Following breakfast  you check out, meet your guide and driver and enjoy a tour around Listvyanka Village. During the tour you visit the Baikal Limnological Museum and Aquarium that houses an interesting display of the unique flora and fauna of the lake.

Then you take a chair-lift to the nearby viewpoint to take some magnificent panoramic pictures of Baikal, view the Chersky Rock and visit the 19th century wooden St. Nicolas church and spend some time at a local fish market where you see a great variety of fish and different ways of cooking it.

Then you say "Good-bye" to Lake Baikal and take a trip to the open-air museum of wooden architecture located in Taltsy Village.

This reconstructed Siberian village consists of a number of buildings that were threatened with flooding when the Irkutsk Dam was constructed on the Angara River. All the buildings at the Taltsy museum were rescued from the rising waters and brought here to serve as models of Irkutsk regional architecture.

After the tour you are transferred to Irkutsk.

Please note: chair-lift is not available on Monday

Day 6: Arrival

Upon arrival, you check in at the centrally located hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Day 7: Irkutsk City Tour

After breakfast you check out from your hotel and have morning at leisure. After time for lunch (not included) you meet your guide and driver in the hotel lobby and have a guided tour around the most remarkable city's attractions.

You first walk along Angara River embankment - the most popular meeting place among the locals - to an eternal flame and the monument to explorer Yakov Pohabov, the founder of the city. You proceed to the only Catholic Cathedral in Irkutsk, the beautiful Polish Roman Church, located in the historical part of Irkutsk.

You are then driven to one of the main monasteries in Siberia - Sign Monastery also known as the Znamensky Monastery. You also explore the Kazan Church, which with its Byzantine style decorations looks like a fairy tower, and Block 130, the historical zone with many colorful wooden houses and buildings constructed in the 17th century.

After the tour you are transferred to the train station, board your private train car and continue your Trans-Siberian journey further to Yekaterinburg. 

Day 9: Arrival

Upon arrival in Yekaterinburg, your driver meets you at the train station and transfers you to your centrally located hotel for overnight.

Day 10: Exploring the Highlights of Yekaterinburg

After breakfast you meet your guide and enjoy a sightseeing tour around the most remarkable city landmarks.

During the tour you take a walk through the historical city center, visit Ural Craftsman Lane where you can buy some traditional hand-made souvenirs, see the magnificent architectural ensemble of the Rastorguev - Haritonov House, admire Sevastyanov's House - the symbol of the city, and take a trip to the famous Europe-Asia monument where you can happily experience being at two places at once putting one foot in Europe and the other in Asia.

The second part of your tour is dedicated to the last days of the Russian Imperial Family. You visit the Church on Blood built on the site of the notorious Ipatiev House, where the last Russian Emperor, Nicolas II, and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
Your guide also takes you to the first burial place of the tsar’s family - the Monastery Complex “Ganina Yama” that now consists of seven chapels - one for each member of the royal family.

The day is crowned with a visit to Boris Yeltsin Center, a modern high tech complex where you explore the museum dedicated to the first Russian president and learn about the contemporary history of Russia starting with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the period often described as “the wild 90s”.

After the tour you return to your hotel and have the rest of the day free. 

Day 11: Departure

In the morning you check out from your hotel and your driver takes you to the train station, board your private train car and head for Moscow.

Day 12: Exploring the Kremlin, Armoury Chamber & the Heart of Moscow

In the morning your train arrives in the legendary capital of Russia - Moscow. Your driver meets you at the train station and your tour leader takes you to a centrally located hotel to leave luggage and have breakfast. 

You then say goodbye to the tour leader, meet a local guide in the hotel lobby and go to the Kremlin territory where you have a chance to explore the gems hidden behind the Kremlin walls such as the Cathedral Square and the Assumption and Annunciation cathedrals.

Then you visit the famous Armoury Chamber that houses a unique collection of crown jewels, stunning coronation finery, hand-forged armor and weapons, royal carriages and sleighs, and world-famous Fabergé eggs.

After a short break for coffee you take a walk through the beautiful Red Square, go inside the colorful St. Basil's Cathedral and explore the famous GUM department store.

After the tour you return to the hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Day 13: Visiting the Tretyakov Gallery & Moscow Subway Ride

Following breakfast you meet your guide and driver and enjoy a tour of the world-famous treasure trove of the Russian fine art, the Tretyakov Gallery, where you have amazing time viewing the gems of its collection, including the famous masterpieces of Ivan Aivazovsky, Mikhail Vrubel, and Viktor Vasnetsov.

After the tour of the Tretyakov Gallery you have a quick subway ride to explore the most beautiful stations of Moscow Subway, which is known to be one of the most beautiful and efficient metro systems in the world. Then you see the spectacular Cathedral of Christ the Savior and learn the story of its destruction and reconstruction.

Today you also have a chance to enjoy one of the best city views at Sparrow Hills and see the grand building of Moscow State University, the highest of seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow.

After the tour you are transferred to your hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Day 14: Train to St Petersburg

Following breakfast you check out from your hotel and your driver transfers you to the train station. 

Day 14: Train to St. Petersburg & Trip to Pushkin

Welcome to St.-Petersburg - the Venice of the North!

Upon arrival your guide and driver meet you at the train station and together you head for one of the gems of Russian palatial architecture - the brilliant Catherine's Palace which is located in Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) about an hour south from the center of St. Petersburg. This striking example of baroque architecture was once gifted by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine I. Later on it serviсed as summer residences to many Russian Emperors and empresses who contributed a lot into its development and further beautification.

During the tour we walk through the lavish parks and gardens of this outstanding palace and enjoy its gorgeous interiors, including the replica of the world-renowned Amber Room.

After the tour you are transferred back to St. Petersburg to check in to your centrally located hotel.

Day 15: St Petersburg Panoramic Tour

After breakfast you meet your guide in the hotel lobby and go on an amazing panoramic city tour around the most cherished gems of St. Petersburg with your driver. You see the Arts Square and explore its beautiful ensemble including the Mikhailovsky Theater.

You drive along the Summer Garden and cross the Neva River before you have a chance to see the legendary Cruiser Aurora. Afterwards you visit the Peter and Paul Fortress - a burial place of almost all the Russian emperors and empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family.

A highlight of the day is a visit to the magnificent St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is known to be the second tallest Orthodox church in the world.

You also see the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which stands where Russia's great emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded.

After the tour you return to the hotel and have the rest of the day free.

Day 16: Hermitage Museum, Trip to Peterhof & Hydrofoil Ride

Following breakfast, you meet your guide in the hotel lobby and go to the legendary Hermitage Museum to see its unique collection of world art.

During the tour, you visit the halls of the Winter Palace to explore the main collection of the Hermitage, including the masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, El Greco, Francisco Goya and Thomas Gainsborough.

You then travel to the outskirts of St. Petersburg to explore the former summer residence of Russian tsars. 

Upon arrival at Peterhof you visit the famous Bath Cottage, which offers a fascinating insight into everyday life of Russian court, take a walk in the beautiful Lower Park, lavishly adorned with 176 fountains of various forms and styles and numerous gilded statues of ancient gods and heroes, and explore the Grand Palace (from the outside).

After the tour you take an exciting hydrofoil ride back to the city, return to the hotel and have the rest of the day at leisure. 

Day 17: Departure

This is the final day of your amazing Trans-Siberian train tour! Following breakfast you check out from the hotel and your guide transfers you to the airport for your flight back home. We wish you a safe flight and hope to work on your future trips!